LGBT Wellness Roundup 02 27 2015
This is the video version of our weekly roundup of the top LGBT health and wellness stories. See it online with all links at the Huffington Post Gay Voices Wellness page. Please be sure to…
Mother of Trans Son Pens Heartwarming Letter for His 5th Birthday
Mother of Trans Son Pens Heartwarming Letter for His 5th Birthday
Try not to ‘aww!’ at this Boston mom’s public declaration of love for her young transgender son.
Mitch Kellaway
Still Here
Still Here
Years ago, in the early 1990s, I bought a life insurance policy. As a person with HIV, I was told that It was the last possible life insurance policy I could purchase, with the lowest possible rate of return. We were still years away from the cocktail in 1996, which, for the first time since the crisis began, provided real hope.
Hope. Before 1996, just saying the word — just thinking it, imagining it — was thought of as naive. Foolish. A clutching at straws. While never letting go of hope, even in my darkest moments, I nonetheless knew that I would die from this disease. And that my time was limited.
I continued to work, believing that work was my redemption: If I am able to work, I must feel okay. If I feel okay, I must look okay. If I feel and look okay, maybe I am not really sick. Even as I began to develop illnesses that I could see as the beginning of the end, I continued to seek answers and I continued to hope. The only alternative was to collapse and accept the inevitable, and I wasn’t ready to do that.
And when that day came — not the cure, but a treatment no one ever thought possible — I was suddenly faced with a future.
In 1996, just as the cocktail was introduced, I sold my meager insurance policy to a viatical company for 60 percent of its worth. A viatical company’s sole purpose is to collect death benefits when their client shuffles off this mortal coil, which, for them to benefit financially, is as soon as possible.
Every four months, I would receive an email from my viatical company, always accompanied by a nice, friendly little note.
“Happy St. Paddy’s Day!”
“It’s Your Birthday — Time To Celebrate!”
i.huffpost.com/gen/1690198/thumbs/s-BIRTHDAY-CAKE-small.jpg
I had no animosity toward the writers of these notes. They were just doing their jobs. They needed to find out if I was still alive. I had no ill will, either, toward the viatical company. We were business partners. We gambled: my money or my life. And I was beating the odds. Until 1996, the company thought it had a sure thing. Neither they, nor I, counted on my living more than a few more years.
This went on for well over a decade. The representative (I’ll call him Al) who contacted me every four months became a regular. He told me he had looked at my web page and he would ask me questions regarding my career. He became a fan. (Or a stalker. You choose.) For years, we had this odd quarterly online relationship — to see if I was still alive.
Those emails have stopped. Perhaps their time for collecting has expired. Or they’ve given up on me. I guess I won. And I wonder how Al is doing — whether he got a promotion. Or quit his job to pursue his unfulfilled life as a chef, or romance mystery writer or circus performer. I wonder if he thinks of me and wonders how I’m faring.
Each time I received one of the company’s happy emails, I usually resisted the urge to write a snappy note back, like: “Haven’t died yet. Have a nice day!” I’m was usually very pleasant and simply stated, “No changes. Happy [fill in the blank] to you, too.” Sometimes, however, in this life of highs and lows, I was not in such a good mood. And, in these times, I dispersed with the niceties and simply wrote, “Still here.” An apt assessment, I think. Not “Haven’t died yet,” and not “No changes, happy Valentine’s Day.” Just: “Still Here.”
www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-ward/still-here_b_6770622.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices
House of Peace
House of Peace
Recently, HRC Mississippi had the pleasure of hosting a group of 11th graders from Needham, Massachusetts.
HRC.org
www.hrc.org/blog/entry/house-of-peace?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed
Sneak Peek: New Dramas From ‘Queer As Folk’ Creator Explore What It’s Like To Be Young And Gay Today
Sneak Peek: New Dramas From ‘Queer As Folk’ Creator Explore What It’s Like To Be Young And Gay Today
Mark your calendars and/or set your DVRs for March 2. That’s when Logo will offer a special preview of two new queer-themed interwoven British dramas that will “explore 21st-century gay life in all its powerful, witty, dark and uplifting guises through the lens of two disparate generations.” Cucumber and Banana, the latest offerings from Queer as Folk creator Russell T. Davies, will be previewed following the March 2 season premiere of RuPaul‘s Drag Race.
According to Logo’s press release, the hour-long Cucumber explores the lives and misadventures of Henry Best (Vincent Franklin) and his long-suffering boyfriend of nine years, Lance Sullivan (Cyril Nri). The half-hour Banana will follow the individual lives of younger characters orbiting around Henry’s world, telling stories of modern love – the romantic, the obsessed, the hopeful, the lonely, the lost, and the lucky – in an urban Manchester, England setting.
The two series will officially premiere stateside on April 13 but you can take a look at a special preview of all the upcoming drama below.
Jeremy Kinser
Aaron Schock Ponies Up $35,000 in Personal Funds for 'Downton Abbey' Office
Aaron Schock Ponies Up $35,000 in Personal Funds for 'Downton Abbey' Office
Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) has repaid the government $35,000 from his personal funds for his eyebrow-raising Downton Abbey-inspired office decour, USA Today reports:
“As he said he would, Congressman Schock has fulfilled his commitment to pay for all the renovation costs of the 18th Congressional District office in Washington,” said a statement released by Schock’s office Friday. “Even though office expenses are often covered by the Member Representational Allowance, the Congressman believed it appropriate to pay these costs himself as part of the office review process.”
USA TODAY has reported that Schock had spent more $100,000 than of his taxpayer-funded account on office renovations in prior years. The expenses included thousands for leather furniture, hardwood floors and marble countertops for his offices in his central Illinois congressional district.
Past flamboyant expenditures on Schock’s part include private flights on donor planes, a trip to see Katy Perry with the interns, and massage parlors.
Previously, “Jon Stewart Shreds Aaron Schock with Instagram Montage Set to Taylor Swift: VIDEO” [tlrd]
Kyler Geoffroy
Shawn Gaylord on the LGBT Envoy
Shawn Gaylord on the LGBT Envoy
We look forward to Randy Berry, the newly appointed Special Envoy for the human rights of LGBT people, working to protect the human rights of LGBT people, responding to discrimination and violence.
Facebook Now Allows Users to Define Custom Gender
Facebook Now Allows Users to Define Custom Gender
Trans advocates have lauded the social media site for empowering their trans and gender-nonconforming users, even as others continue to seek change in Facebook’s “real name policy.”
Mitch Kellaway
www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/02/27/facebook-now-allows-users-define-custom-gender
A Sneak Peak At 'Banana' And 'Cucumber,' Logo TV"s New Gay Dramas
A Sneak Peak At 'Banana' And 'Cucumber,' Logo TV"s New Gay Dramas
The two hotly-anticipated dramas “Cucumber” and “Banana” are set to “sneak premiere” on Logo TV March 2 — and we’ve got an advance peek at the steamy opening sequence of the latter series.
Russell T. Davies, who created the original British version of “Queer as Folk,” is also behind both of the diverse new shows, which will feature plenty of steamy love scenes.
Here’s how the shows are billed:
The two interwoven drama series will explore 21st century gay life in all its powerful, witty, dark and uplifting guises through the lens of two disparate generations. The hour-long “Cucumber” will explore the lives and misadventures of Henry Best (Vincent Franklin) and his long-suffering boyfriend of nine years, Lance Sullivan (Cyril Nri).
The half-hour “Banana” will follow the individual lives of younger characters orbiting around Henry’s world, telling stories of modern love — the romantic, the obsessed, the hopeful, the lonely, the lost, and the lucky – in an urban Manchester, England setting.
“Cucumber” and “Banana” will return for their official season premieres on Logo TV April 13 at 10 p.m.
Focused on What’s Important: Cedric Gum
Focused on What’s Important: Cedric Gum
At 25-years-old, Arkansas native and community activist Cedric Gum has seen it all.
HRC.org
www.hrc.org/blog/entry/focused-on-whats-important-cedric-gum?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed